Starting Off Well, Fallon’s Charm Seems to Be Carrying ‘Late Night’

Jimmy Fallon, front, tried surfing on the set last week with his guest Simon Baker, who stars in The Mentalist and is a surfer.Credit
Dana Edelson/NBC

In a show last Tuesday night at the Town Hall theater in Manhattan, as NBC trotted out its full roster of comedy talent, the pressure should have been on Jimmy Fallon, who is, in every respect, the new guy for the network.

The lineup included NBC’s two late-night stars who are about to undergo career-changing shifts, Conan O’Brien to “The Tonight Show” and Jay Leno to prime time, as well as Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler doing a special “Weekend Update” segment from “Saturday Night Live” — and a surprise appearance by Jerry Seinfeld.

During Mr. Fallon’s turn he called to the stage Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of NBC Universal, for a mocking evisceration. He was rewarded with big laughs.

That is pretty much how it has gone so far for Mr. Fallon, who just three months into his new role as host of NBC’s “Late Night” has seemingly got the middle-of-the-night comedy job figured out — at least for now.

“It’s great, exciting; it’s really been satisfying,” Mr. Fallon said of his 11-week foray into the world of monologues, desk comedy and celebrity interviews. “Oprah’s following me on Twitter.”

The ratings have certainly leveled off from their initial high point. That may encourage his competitors, though producers of other late-night shows acknowledged being surprised that Mr. Fallon has done so well as the new act in late night — an arena that has swallowed up many newcomers. For his first month, Mr. Fallon’s ratings were better than what Mr. O’Brien averaged for the 2008-9 season. Since then he has dropped slightly behind Mr. O’Brien.

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Just three months into his new role as host of NBCs Late Night," Mr. Fallon has seemingly got the middle-of-the-night comedy job figured out  at least for now. Credit
Dana Edelson/NBC

Mr. Fallon had also won — by diminishing margins — every week in terms of total audience until the first week of May, when he was finally caught by Craig Ferguson and his “Late Late Show” on CBS. But he bounced back and won again the next week.

NBC had expected Mr. Ferguson to be a formidable competitor. He had slipped past Mr. O’Brien occasionally among total viewers. Mr. Ferguson’s ratings have been up from last year since Mr. Fallon came on, so he has reason to be pleased as well. (Producers for Mr. Ferguson are steering clear of commenting on Mr. Fallon.)

And then there is Jimmy Kimmel on ABC; the second half hour of his show competes against Mr. Fallon.

“Those are two good dudes with strong shows,” Mr. Fallon said, adding that the other two hosts had wished him well when he started. “Ferguson’s audience just goes bonkers for him every night. But there’s room for all.”

Charming viewers seems to be the strongest part of Mr. Fallon’s game, according to Lorne Michaels, the producer who put Mr. Fallon in the job.

“When 75 percent of the audience likes the person, you’re 75 percent of the way there,” Mr. Michaels said. “He’s a good performer and impressionist. The rare thing is he’s charming.”

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Brad Adgate, senior vice president for research at Horizon Media, a media buying firm, said of Mr. Fallon: “He’s really holding his own. I think he got a lot of good sampling coming after Leno and people who saw him really like him.”

The late-night audience was familiar with Mr. Fallon from his days on “Saturday Night Live” — especially as anchor on “Weekend Update” segments — and many of them were clearly fans.

Though he had his critics — some of whom said he laughed too much at his own jokes and flatly predicted he would never be successful as a host — Mr. Fallon slipped into “Late Night” far more easily than Mr. O’Brien had when Mr. Michaels lifted that host from the obscurity of being a comedy writer and anointed him the successor to David Letterman.

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Mr. Fallon said Jimmy Kimmel of ABC, left, and Craig Ferguson of CBS wished him well when he became their competitor.Credit
Michael Desmond/ABC; Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Mr. Michaels remembered the rocky early days for Mr. O’Brien — which at one point led to an attempt by NBC to renew Mr. O’Brien only on a week-by-week basis.

“It was such a rough birth,” Mr. Michaels said. “I was dreading going through the process again.” Mr. O’Brien overcame in a big way, emerging as a star so bright that NBC found a new role for Mr. Leno so Mr. O’Brien could get his shot on “Tonight.”

Some reviewers said that Mr. Fallon was too jumpy in his “Late Night” role. He pleaded guilty. “And they said, ‘He doesn’t know what he’s doing out there.’ All true! I don’t know how to host a talk show.”

The ratings seem to be proving that wrong, though at least one longtime producer, Robert Morton, said Mr. Fallon still needed to “develop his own voice.” Mr. Morton, who started as a producer during Mr. Letterman’s early days on NBC and followed him to CBS, said he had generally been impressed by Mr. Fallon. “He’s already one of the most likable guys in late night,” Mr. Morton said. “You root for him.”

But he added that the show’s writers had not yet learned how best to write for Mr. Fallon. “Obviously they don’t know his voice yet, either,” Mr. Morton said. “Comics spend years finding a point of view and voice. Then it becomes easy to write for a Johnny Carson or Jay Leno or David Letterman. Jimmy needs to establish some pieces that are his, the way you know a David Letterman piece is his when you see it.”

The show is trying to break some new ground, mainly in the way it is using the Internet and other technology favored by younger viewers. Several regular comedy bits play on audience members’ use of Facebook and iPods. Recently the show initiated a contest, asking for online submissions of crazy dancing.

“We want to do even more with the Net,” Mr. Fallon said.

Mr. Fallon said he was grateful for the presence of Mr. Michaels, who has been at the show every night so far despite also producing several editions of “Saturday Night Live.”

Mr. Michaels said: “I was also there at Conan the first few months. When you have a kid, you have to be there at drop-off every day. And then when they get older, at some point you quietly tip-toe out of sight.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B3 of the New York edition with the headline: Starting Off Well, Fallon’s Charm Seems to Be Carrying ‘Late Night’. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe